Who is my MP in Australia?

Divisions, not postcodes

Australian postcodes cross division boundaries freely, so a postcode alone cannot tell you your member. Divisions are redistributed by the Australian Electoral Commission as populations shift, which is why a division can be abolished or renamed between elections. Choosing your division from the list is the reliable route.

Each state and territory also elects senators who represent the whole state, so any of your state's twelve senators is a legitimate second address for a national issue.

• 150 divisions, one member each in the House of Representatives.
• Senators represent an entire state or territory, not a division.
• State MPs and local councillors handle schools, hospitals, roads and planning.

What a federal member can do

A federal member votes on and amends Commonwealth legislation, asks questions of ministers, and takes individual cases to a Commonwealth department — Services Australia, Home Affairs, the ATO, the NDIA or Veterans' Affairs. An electorate office intervening on a stalled Centrelink or visa matter is treated very differently to a call from the public.

They cannot direct a state department, a hospital or a council. Health delivery, schools, police and planning are state or local, so those letters belong to a state MP or a councillor.

Write it yourself

Lead with your address, name one issue, and state the action you want: a vote, a question on notice, a letter to a minister, or a meeting at the electorate office. Keep it under 400 words.

We check the letter is your own words rather than a template, send it from our domain with your reply-to attached, and erase the text after five weeks.